Wandering Jew. Then came his education at a private school, and afterwards the wider training at Winchester. Later, Owain had expected to go to Oxford, but his father, finding the need of some one to lean upon in his old age, had summoned the boy to Berlin unexpectedly. Owain's mysterious parent proved to be an aristocratic-looking gentleman, perfectly dressed, perfectly acquainted with the motley Continental world, and perfectly heartless. Hench senior frankly acknowledged that he cared for no one but himself, and turned his son into a kind of superior servant. The two travelled all over Europe in moderately good style, as Mr. Hench always seemed to have enough to keep him in comfort if not in luxury. But this last he also obtained by gambling, as he frequently won large sums of money, which were always squandered in extravagant whims and fancies. If Owain had not possessed a sterling thoughtful nature he would have been ruined by this hand-to-mouth existence, which was distinguished by continual ups and downs. But the young man had his own views of leading a decent life, and when unhampered by his spendthrift father determined to carry them out. The opportunity did not come to him until he was twenty years of age, when Mr. Hench died in Paris and was buried without parade in Pere La Chaise. Cold-hearted and selfish to the end, he passed away without suggesting how his son, to whom he had given no profession, was to exist. He simply told him to go to Gilberry & Gilberry, solicitors, of Lincoln's Inn Fields, on his twenty-fifth birthday, when certain papers would be handed to him. Thus it can be seen that the young man had little reason to regret the demise of so egotistic a parent, who had been a curse rather than a blessing.     

       What the papers in charge of Gilberry & Gilberry might contain, Owain could not guess, nor had his dying father enlightened him, but he fancied that they might have something to do with proving the identity of the dead man. Owain had always suspected, from the strict silence preserved by his father about his past, that Hench was an assumed name, and hoped that the mysterious documents might afford some clue to the family history. The sole clue which the young man had to guide him to knowledge of any sort or description was the mention of his father of Rhaiadr as the place where he had passed his youthful days. Yet the word had proved to be of some value, for its mention had evoked a memory of Madame Alpenny's early romance, although that story had proved to be 

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